The field of this invention relates to a suction apparatus and more particularly to a suction apparatus to be used in the field of dentistry to continuously remove saliva from a patient's mouth during dental procedures.
One of the commonly used tools at the present time within dentistry is the placing of an instrument within the patient's mouth to remove saliva that has generated during dental procedures. This keeps the accumulated saliva from hindering the procedures.
The suction apparatus this is conventionally employed constitutes an elongated conduit which has a head attached to the open end of the conduit. The head includes a pair of enlarged slots or openings and it is this head that is to be placed within the person's mouth and the saliva is to be drawn through the enlarged openings and into the conduit and subsequently disposed of.
A disadvantage of this type of device is that the mouth tissue of the patient is partially drawn into the enlarged openings. Not only does this hamper the function of the device, the patient experiences a significant discomfort and possibly some pain when the soft tissue on the floor of the mouth of the patient is drawn into the openings.
There is a definite need for a saliva ejector which removes the saliva but did not effect the tissue of the person's mouth.